Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2010 An annotated catalogue of selected Cuban piano works from the 18th-20th centuries Nikie Oechsle Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations Part of the Music Commons Recommended Citation Oechsle, Nikie, "An annotated catalogue of selected Cuban piano works from the 18th-20th centuries" (2010). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 3626. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/3626 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please [email protected]. AN ANNOTATED CATALOGUE OF SELECTED CUBAN PIANO WORKS FROM THE 18TH-20TH CENTURIES A Monograph Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts In The School of Music by Nikie Oechsle Associate of Piano Pedagogy, Spring Arbor University, 2004 B.A., Spring Arbor University, 2004 M.M., Central Michigan University, 2006 M.M., Central Michigan University, 2007 December 2010 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT...................................................................................................................................iii INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1 HISTORICAL OVERVIEW...........................................................................................................7 CATALOGUE OF WORKS..........................................................................................................12 DESCRIPTIONS OF DANCES AND DANCE FORMS...........................................................227 REFERENCES............................................................................................................................254 APPENDIX A COMPOSERS AND THEIR DATES.............................................................................261 B COMPOSITIONS BY LEVEL........................................................................................263 C SCORES AND MANUSCRIPTS BIBLIOGRAPHY.....................................................279 VITA............................................................................................................................................287 ii ABSTRACT The piano music of Cuba encompasses a large body of valuable music that is yet to be explored fully on the international scene by performers and teachers. The purpose of this volume is to provide a guide that will enable performers and teachers to quickly reference, and more fully investigate the available music of Cuban composers. This is accomplished by providing description and levels of selected Cuban piano works from the eighteenth through twentieth centuries in catalogue format, as well as by providing descriptions of dances and dance forms found in the included literature. iii INTRODUCTION Methods and Catalogue Procedures The piano music of Cuba is relatively unknown outside of its mother country, and very few Cuban composers are widely recognized in the international professional and pedagogical realms. This lack of knowledge may be attributed partly to the lack of resources on Cuban piano music. There is very little Cuban repertoire in the standard teaching literature in America, only one known dictionary in English dedicated to Cuban music, no known catalogue of Cuban piano literature in any language, and very few historical resources available in the United States – even fewer of which are in English. Most Cuban composers have not been written about in any depth, and many of the works available can only be found in manuscript form. In recent years catalogues and other resources have been compiled on piano works from South America, while few resources have dealt with the piano work of Central American and Caribbean countries such as Cuba. Performers and teachers wishing to investigate this music have very few resources available to them that are able to provide more than only the best-known of Cuban composers‘ names, such as Lecuona or Ardévol. As the United States continues to gain a larger Hispanic population, there may be a heightened interest in music from this part of the world. The piano music of Cuba encompasses a large body of music that is yet to be fully explored on the international scale by performers and teachers. The purpose of this volume is to provide a guide that will enable performers and teachers to quickly reference, and more fully explore the music of Cuban composers. This will be accomplished by describing and leveling selected Cuban piano works from the eighteenth through twentieth centuries in catalogue format. As well, descriptions of dances and dance forms found in the literature will be provided. 1 The selection of pieces has been confined to those manuscripts and scores available for interlibrary loan through the worldwide system. The purpose of this limitation is to ensure that all works listed in the catalogue are widely available to teachers, students, and performers within the United States. Publication bibliographic details for all works included within the catalogue are given in the Scores and Manuscripts Bibliography appendix, and are numbered so as to be referenced quickly. All works are listed in alphabetical order, first by composer and then by title of composition. Basic biographical information is given for each composer. Included with the description of each work is an English translation of the title (if necessary), date of composition (if available), key and time signature, initial expressive or tempo markings, and length of piece. Descriptions of pieces include level of difficulty and musical or technical concerns within the music. Specific dance forms and styles embodied in these works are referenced as necessary throughout the catalogue, and are described in further detail in the Descriptions of Dances and Dance Forms chapter. An index of all composers covered within this catalogue is also included as an appendix, along with dates and references to page numbers. An index of compositions, listed by level, designed to help the teacher quickly find pieces at any given level, is also given in an additional appendix. Information that is easily shorthanded is listed at the beginning of each entry, including level, score source and bibliographic reference, key signature, time signature, beginning expressive marking (if any), and length. For example: Level 7, B24, E Minor, 6/8, Andante, 2 pp. 2 The Leveling System Levels of difficulty have been determined by the author using Jane Magrath‘s system of leveling as a comparative guide. The reason for using Magrath‘s system is that familiarity with her Guide to Standard Teaching and Performing Literature is common among piano teachers in the United States. Because any leveling system allows for some ambiguity, the opinions of three outside piano professors1 are also taken into account for many of the works within this catalogue. Works that fall beyond level 10 of Magrath‘s system are labeled Advanced. Many of the advanced works are best suited to the seasoned performer. For convenience, a short, comparative guide for levels 1-10 is presented below.2 These examples are by no means concrete, as there may be an overlap between the levels with respect to technical and musical concerns. It is also recognized by the author that certain pieces named below may be seen by some educators as being a level above or below where they have been listed. Level One: Technical and musical concerns include consistency, parallel and contrary motion, similar or repeated articulation patterns, staccato, and legato. There are no sixteenth notes and any change in hand position is slow. Representative pieces are selections from 60 Pieces, Part I and Part II (―Carefree‖ is an example) by Turk, The Very Easiest Studies, Op. 190 by Kohler, selections from Bartok‘s First Term at the Piano and his Mikrokosmos Book I, and Kabalevsky‘s ―A Funny Event,‖ Op. 39, No. 7 from 24 Pieces for Children. Level Two: Technical and musical concerns include modified Alberti bass, increasing independence of the hands, more subtle dynamic contrasts, more frequent hand position changes, 1 Thanks are given to Dr. Victoria Johnson, Michael Gurt, and Dr. Pamela Pike. 2 Leveling of the majority of these pieces was done by Jane Magrath. Jane Magrath, The Pianist‟s Guide to Standard Teaching and Performance Literature – An Invaluable Resource of Piano Literature from Baroque through Contemporary Periods for Teachers, Students and Performers (Van Nuys: Alfred Publishing Co., 1995). 3 and hand expansion out of a five-finger pattern. Representative pieces are Rameau‘s Menuet and Rondo, selections from Turk‘s 60 Pieces, Part I and Part II, Beethoven‘s Ecossaise in G Major, selections from Schumann‘s Album for the Young Op. 68, No. 1 (such as ―Melody‖) and No. 2 (such as ―Soldier‘s March‖), Gurlitt‘s The First Lessons, Op. 117, Selections from Kabalevsky‘s 24 Pieces for Children, Op. 39, and selections from Bartok‘s For Children, Volume I, First Term at the Piano, and Mikrokosmos, Volume I. Level Three: Technical and musical concerns